As business owners and executives, we support the creation of a Paid Family and Medical Leave Insurance Program in Massachusetts. It’s good for our businesses, our customers, our employees, and our entire economy.

Employees are also customers. After a medical emergency or the birth of a new child, many in our community are forced to choose between taking care of a family member or keeping the job that puts food on the table. Paid family and medical leave insurance would allow everyone working in Massachusetts to take time off from their job while receiving benefits from a state insurance fund, increasing sales at local businesses as workers buy products and services they could not otherwise afford. Nothing drives job creation more than consumer demand.

Paid leave helps businesses. Paid family and medical leave leads to healthier and more productive employees, and reduced employee turnover means lower recruitment and training costs for employers. Because employees on leave would receive their benefits from a state trust fund, businesses could afford to hire temporary replacement workers (or pay existing employees overtime) with the money they would otherwise use to pay an employee taking leave.

It’s tested and proven. In other states like California, New York, Rhode Island, and New Jersey, both businesses and their employees report positive effects from paid family and medical leave. In a survey six years after California’s law was implemented, 89 to 99 percent of employers reported that paid family and medical leave had either a “positive effect” or “no noticeable effect” on productivity, profitability/performance, turnover, and employee morale. Not having paid family and medical leave puts our businesses at a competitive disadvantage compared to businesses in states that do.

Paid leave improves our economy. Research show that paid family and medical leave improves women’s labor force participation, which helps reduce inequality and promotes economic growth. Paid leave also keeps money in the pockets of families, who then spend it in the local economy.

Everyone, including business owners, benefit when our employees can afford to take time off to take care of their health, the health of a loved one, or a new child. We support the creation of a Paid Family and Medical Leave Insurance Program in Massachusetts, paid for by equal employer and employee contributions.

Sign now to support Paid Family & Medical Leave in Massachusetts: